Iraqi forces battle Islamic State in towns north of Baghdad

November 23, 2014 10:29 AM

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers backed by Shi'ite militia and Kurdish peshmerga forces attacked two towns northeast of Baghdad held by Islamic State fighters on Sunday, trying to clear a main road linking the capital to the border with Iran.

Peshmerga and army officers said they advanced into Jalawla, 115 km (70 miles) from Baghdad, and the nearby town of Saadiya, which they have been trying to recapture from Islamic State since the radical Islamists seized them in August.